Chili pepper · Central America
Bell pepper
0 Scoville heat units
The only cultivated Capsicum with no capsaicin at all — a single recessive gene switches it off.
What this rung gets you Black pepper and mild salsa without a second thought
How hot Bell pepper actually is
Bell pepper is no measurable capsaicin at all. Growing conditions move any published figure several-fold, so read it as the middle of a range rather than a promise.
On the twelve-rung ladder
It sits on rung 1, Warmth, which spans 0 to 150 SHU. Start where there is no real burn at all, just the sensation of seasoning. If this already feels like a lot, that is a completely normal place to begin.
Training to this rung is what gets you: Black pepper and mild salsa without a second thought.
Comparable heat
Anything here burns at roughly the same level, which is what makes them interchangeable when you are training at this rung.
- Shishito 100
Common questions
How hot is Bell pepper on the Scoville scale?
Bell pepper measures about 0 Scoville heat units. That is no measurable capsaicin at all.
Where does Bell pepper sit on the ladder?
Rung 1 of twelve — Warmth, covering 0 to 150 SHU. Start where there is no real burn at all, just the sensation of seasoning. If this already feels like a lot, that is a completely normal place to begin.
What stops the burn from Bell pepper?
Dairy. Capsaicin is fat-soluble, so water spreads it rather than removing it; the casein in milk, yogurt or ice cream lifts it off the receptor. A spoonful of sugar held in the mouth measurably helps too. Starch — rice or bread — physically carries it off the tongue.
Bell pepper is rung 1 of twelve. Which rung are you on?
Black pepper and mild salsa without a second thought. That is rung 1. Name the hottest thing you eat without thinking. See how far that is.
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